LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 64 years, women 71 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.745
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 72
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .dm
Dominica, island and independent republic of the Caribbean. Columbus was given land recognition of the island on November 3, 1493 (a Sunday, mlat. Dominica) and found it inhabited by Caribbean Indians. They managed for a long time to keep the conquerors away, but succumbed to the invaders.
Now the population is predominantly descendants of Africans who worked as slaves on the plantations of the colony. The language of government is English, but French-Creole (patois) is widespread.
Religious life is dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. The Republic is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations without recognizing the British monarch as head of state. The country is also a member of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and has a common Supreme Court and currency with the other members.
National flag
The flag was first introduced in 1978 and is made up of symbols: Green is the main color and refers to the rich vegetation. The emblem in the middle shows an emperor parrot (Amazona imperialis) found only on Dominica. The three colors of the cross refer to the Christian trinity. Yellow symbolizes sunshine as well as the island’s Indians, black the earth and the people’s African heritage, white the pure rivers, and the stars stand for the island’s ten districts.
Geography
Dominica is mountainous and characterized by small farms; the coast is often steep and rugged. The island is a more indigenous Caribbean, less touristy and forms a less affluent community than many of the neighboring islands.
Dominica is of volcanic origin; the volcanoes are extinct, but there are still hot springs. The highest point is Mount Diablotin (1447 m). The climate is tropical and very rainy with over 6000 mm of precipitation on wind-facing slopes. Together with the fertile soil of volcanic origin, it allows for a versatile agriculture with a significant banana cultivation and export, including grapefruit, lime, coconut, cocoa and cinnamon. The industry is limited to the processing of agricultural products and exports of e.g. fruit juices.
Countryaah: Do you know how many people there are in Dominica? Check this site to see population pyramid and resident density about this country.
Around the turn of the millennium, tourism formed an increasing part of the economy, while banana exports were halved through the 1990’s, e.g. as a result of increased competition in the form of cheap bananas from the Latin American countries in the EU market.
Dominica is located in the Caribbean typhoon belt and is regularly hit by devastating hurricanes. In 1979, Hurricane David put 3/4 of the land desolate, and a large proportion of arable land away purged. Reconstruction was slowed down by a new hurricane the following year and another in 1989, and the country remains dependent on foreign aid, which comes from the EU Lomé Convention.
History
By the time the Europeans arrived, the island was inhabited by Caribbean Indians. Unlike what happened on most other Caribbean islands, they were not completely exterminated; a smaller group of their descendants still live in “The Carib Reserve”.
Dominica was one of the last islands in the area to be colonized; it happened in 1632 with the arrival of the French. However, due to the island’s strategic location and its timber, England and France alternately took control of it until 1783, when the island finally became a British colony.
Dominica belonged 1871-1939 to the Leeward Islands, then to the Windward Islands. The island was a member of the West Indian Federation from its formation in 1958 until its abolition in 1962. In 1967, the island gained the status of an associated British state with internal self-government, and on November 3, 1978, it became an independent state within the British Commonwealth..
He was convicted in 1985 of participating in coup attempts against the conservative Eugenia Charles, who in 1980 had become the country’s prime minister and the Caribbean’s first female head of state. In 1981, her government was subjected to two coup attempts. From February 1981 to December 1983, the country was declared a state of emergency three times. Dominica was one of the driving forces behind the US – led invasion of Grenada in 1983 and received large sums of money and grants from the United States.
In the 1980’s, tourism, foreign investors and a tightly controlled fiscal policy created significant economic growth. The political opposition was effectively suppressed under Eugenia Charles, who was re-elected in 1985 and 1990, but after the elections in the spring of 1995 she was replaced as Prime Minister by Edison James from the new Labor Party UWP.
Having been in power since 1995, Dominica lost the United Workers’ Party (UWP) in the 2000 election to the left-wing Labor Party of Dominica (LPD), which formed a government in coalition with the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP). The government continued after the 2005 election.
